The Spirit of Christmas
My thanks to Political Site of the Day for grabbing this article out of the Houston Chronicle.
It records a conversation between a Chronicle reporter and Jon Lilletun, leader of the Norwegian Christian Democratic Party.
Here's the portion of the article that caught my attention:
Lilletun also couldn't grasp how the United States could be so rich — just as Norway itself is — yet not feel an obligation to share with those less well resource endowed. Norway, as it happens, gives the highest portion — almost 1 percent — of its GNP to foreign aid of any country in the world.
"Since America views itself as a Christian country, why does it give so little to help poor countries?"
Someone really ought to tell the people in poor countries that Christmas comes from inside their hearts, and if they only looked to the little boy or girl within, they would find true happiness without taking money we otherwise could spend on a new iPod. (Come on! Why do they need us anyway? Don't they have Santa in the Third World?)
No, what Lilletun has grasped here is the essential hypocracy of most (I said most!) religious Americans. Sure, some religious people in this country genuinely follow the tenets of their religion: they donate to the poor with both money and time, they're kind to their nieghbors and the elderly and the sick, and all they want is to live in peace and harmony with their surroundings.
But that's not most religious Americans. Or, at least, not the vocal ones or the voters. For them, religion is about restricting the rights of people you perceive as "evil" or "sinful," like gays or Muslims. It's about making sure everyone believes what you believe, and behaves accordingly. But it's not about caring for the concerns of others, particularly the less fortunate. It's the Jerry Falwell School of Christianity, that religion is about giving you the right to judge others, not the responsibility of helping those who can't help themselves.
I think people in this country (and I include myself here, as I'm not the most charitable, helpful guy in the world) could learn a lot from a country like Norway. Sure, they have a different, less fanatical breed of Christianity than we have in this country, and that's fine, but they seem to have retained more of the true meaning of spirituality than we have, and that is cause for concern.
2 comments:
I think another part of the issue that America needs to touch on is how much Americans are giving to Americans for "charity". For example, what if the choice is between saving an old retro local movie theatre or feeding the poor in Africa? A LOT will choose the movie theatre - they may be able to enjoy it, or at least enjoy the fact that others near them - neighbors, friends, etc., will enjoy it, and then enjoy that appreciation. It's far more likely to hear somebody say "I'm really glad they saved the Old Bijou" than to hear somebody say "I'm glad people are giving money to save the starving." Some egos feed off that.
Does God think saving a movie theatre is a worthy charity?
Excellent point.
As a Jew, I recall growing up and asking a young Christian if he thought I was going to hell for my beliefs (or lack thereof). He responded that some Christians thought that way, and that's what the Bible says in some parts, but that he didn't believe that, and felt it was all about what kind of person you were.
At the time, I took comfort in that. But now, I realize most American Christians bring this sort of fluidity to every aspect of the religion. They pick and choose what the Bible says that they like (for example, "being gay is wrong") and reject what doesn't please them for whatever reason (all that "turning the other cheek" stuff).
I'm glad people are open-minded enough to decide what parts of the Bible they believe and what parts they don't, but I'm sorry that this sort of reasoning doesn't free them from being so dogmatic and overbearing.
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